The invention relates to a closure member for an installation opening in a housing of a shift mechanism for bicycles, made of rubber-elastic material, this installation opening preferably being suitable for installing a cable for a Bowden line, which can be pulled out of this installation opening if damage has occurred to the Bowden transmission.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,897 has disclosed a twist-grip shift that has a grip with a cable reel onto which a cable for operating a set of bicycle gears can be wound. The cable ends in a nipple that can be fixed in the cable reel, the cable reel moving in a housing that is mounted on the bicycle and has an opening that comes to lie over the nipple in a particular position of the cable reel, allowing the cable to be pulled or pushed nipple first through the opening in the housing. The cable can be reinstalled in the same way that it is removed. The position of the nipple relative to the opening in the housing is shown particularly by FIGS. 3, 6, 8 and 12.
However, there is no covering for the opening in the housing to prevent dirt from penetrating into the sensitive bearing arrangement of the cable reel. On the contrary, the design is such that covering is not possible because the opening simultaneously serves as a window for the figures arranged on the cable reel to indicate the gear selected. In this case, the opening could at best be covered by a transparent sheet.
However, coverings for openings in the housing of a shift mechanism for the installation of a cable together with its nipple are known and are sold in large quantities by the applicant. In the event of cable repair, however, the coverings are quickly lost because of their small size, and they must subsequently be replaced. The subject matter of the invention covered by this application relates to loss-proofing of a closure member that can be used to close this abovementioned installation opening as many times as desired without being lost or being damaged during installation. This is achieved through the selection of material and the arrangement of the closure member on the housing. Since the closure member does not have to transmit any significant forces or have any significant forces acting on it, it can be made from relatively soft rubber-elastic material and be provided with an extension that can be secured on the housing, the closure member hanging from the housing by means of the extension once opened and remaining available for subsequent closure of the installation opening.
The invention has thus set itself the object of providing a closure member for an installation opening in a housing of a shift mechanism for bicycles that is made of rubber-elastic material, can be opened as many times as desired and can be closed reliably, a means of preventing loss ensuring that the closure member does not get lost during the installation of the cable.
The way in which this is achieved is disclosed in the characterizing part of the main claim and in the subclaims.
An exemplary embodiment of a closure member for a housing on a shift mechanism is explained with reference to a number of diagrams, where: